CHANDIGARH: The recently floated Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) of former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh has been allotted thirty-seven seats as part of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt).
Amarinder on Sunday announced candidates of PLC from 22 constituencies for the February 20 polls to the state assembly. Most of the candidates are from the Congress party and the Shiromani Akali Dal. There are no 'big names.' Amarinder chose to fight from his present seat of Patiala (Urban).
The bigger partner BJP has allotted 37 seats to PLC out of a total of117 seats the alliance would contest. The discussions are still in progress on possibly another five seats for the party. Of the 37 seats of the PLC, a maximum of 26 are in Malwa region, seven in Majha and four seats in Doaba region.
Releasing the first list of candidates, Amarinder said all these candidates have strong political credentials and are well known faces in their respective constituencies. There is one woman on this first list- Farzana Alam Khan. She is a former SAD MLA and wife of late DGP Izhar Alam Khan. She will contest from Malerkotla in the Malwa region.
Besides Captain Amarinder Singh, who had on Saturday itself announced his decision to fight from his home constituency of Patiala Urban, there are eight other Jat Sikhs in the first list. Four of the candidates belong to the SC community, three to the OBC community, while five are Hindu faces (three Pandits and two Aggarwals).
In addition to Amarinder and Farzana Alam, another key candidate from Malwa region is the current Mayor of MC Patiala, Sanjeev Sharma who was President of District Youth Congress for a number of years. Sharma will contest the Patiala Rural seat.
Kamaldeep Saini, former PPCC secretary, former Chairman Cooperative Bank Punjab and General Secretary in-charge (Org) PLC, has been finalised as the candidate for Kharar, while Jagmohan Sharma, who was President of District Congress Committee, Ludhiana and is currently PLC district president, has been selected for Ludhiana East. The Ludhiana South seat ticket has been given to Satinderpal Singh Tajpuri, the son of a former Cooperation Minister in the erstwhile SAD government.
Prem Mittal, an SAD ex-MLA from Mansa and former Senor Deputy Mayor of Ludhiana, will contest from Atamnagar, while Damanjeet Singh Mohi, an active Youth Congress functionary who has formerly been Sarpanch, Zila Parishad member and Chairman of Market Committee Mullanpur, will fight from the Dakha seat.
A popular Dalit face and a retired PPS officer, Mukhtiar Singh will contest from the reserved constituency of Nihalsingh Wala. The Dharamkot seat ticket has gone to Ravinder Singh Garewal, an advocate, agriculturist and businessman. Dr Amarjeet Sharma, a medical practitioner who has been working at the grassroots for over a decade, has been pitched from Rampura Phul.
An established businessman, transporter and agriculturist, Raj Nambardar is a prominent Hindu face from Bathinda and will contest the polls from Bathinda Urban. Incidentally, his father Dev Raj Nambardar also contested from Bathinda in 1985. Bathinda Rural, a reserved constituency, will be contested by Sawera Singh, son of late MLA Makhan Singh and currently Vice Chairman, Punjab Water Resources Management Corporation.